FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
MAY 2, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARMED CHERRY HILL DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO
OVER 20 YEARS ON DRUG AND GUN CHARGES
One of 18 Violent Repeat Offenders Taken Off the Street Under Baltimore Exile
BALTIMORE, Maryland - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Maurice Mouzon, age 27, of the Cherry Hill section of Baltimore, today to 248 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, “This case is significant not just because of what Maurice Mouzon did. It is significant because of how we caught him doing it. Maurice Mouzon is one of many defendants identified as a Violent Repeat Offender and prosecuted after a proactive investigation by the Maryland Exile partners. He will spend more than 20 years in federal prison without parole as a result of evidence seized on just one day."
"This is a good day for the law-abiding residents of Baltimore," said Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm. "Thanks to the hard work of the U.S. Attorney's office, the FBI, and the Baltimore Police Department, Maurice Mouzon will no longer be able to peddle his poison on the streets of our city."
Special Agent in Charge William D. Chase, of the Baltimore Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI) Field Office, said "The FBI Safe Streets Task Force, along with the Baltimore City Police Department, have made Baltimore safer by taking Maurice Mouzon off the street."
The Violent Repeat Offender program, part of Baltimore Exile, identifies the community’s most violent repeat offenders (VROs), and devises strategies for quickly getting these criminals off the streets. Maurice Mouzon was identified as a VRO because he had a record of convictions for serious crimes, including four prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute narcotics and one conviction for possession of a firearm. Despite repeatedly committing serious narcotics offenses, often while on probation, he consistently received heavily suspended sentences without facing any additional time for his probation violations. Most recently, in March 2006, Mouzon received a 12-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute heroin, with all but three days suspended. He also had a lengthy record of arrests for violent crimes and other serious offenses, including an arrest for attempted first-degree murder.
Based on a combination of information provided by confidential informants, undercover purchases of narcotics from one of Mouzon’s lieutenants, who later pled guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges, and physical surveillance, on September 28, 2006, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers from the Baltimore City Police Department obtained and executed a search and seizure warrant at Mouzon’s residence. As set forth in court documents, during the search Mouzon was located in his bedroom, along with more than $7,000 in drug proceeds and a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. Agents and officers also recovered over 200 grams of powder cocaine during a search of Mouzon’s car.
Mouzon is one of 18 individuals taken off the streets to-date through the VRO program, which was established in February 2006.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the investigative work performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office. Mr. Rosenstein also commended Assistant United States Attorneys Stephanie A. Gallagher, Steven H. Levin, and Jason M. Weinstein, who prosecuted the case.